Ray's "Older then Dirt" thread made me laugh and remember great things about my childhood..It cause me to think of another aspect of my youth and wonder how many others have had the same encounter...who is the most "infamous" person you have ever encounter (be it on a cruise or not)

I'll start..in the summer of 1969 I was a hormone driven 17 year old who was frustrated because my parents would not let me have a driver's license, less alone a car and all my running buddies had bucket seat cars that they took their girlfriends out on saturday night and made sure they blew their horns as they passed my house. I had one friend who "borrowed" his dad's car and we went out "cruising". I grew up in upstate New York in Dutchess County and that summer went to Woodstock (another great story). Well, as luck would have it, on our way to the "big" city we passed this beautiful girl on a bike which turned out to be the actress Jennifer O'Neil (summer of 42)..we were so busy looking at her, we failed to see the sheriff's road block which my friend tried to by pass (because his license had the restriction he could not drive after sundown unless there was a parent in the car)..we quickly noticed that the road block only pulled aside young people with long hair and then we noticed that Dr Timothy Leary (of LSD fame) was walking up and down telling everyone that the assistant district attorney of Dutchess County (G. Gordon Liddy) was conducting an illegal search. They let us go, but the next day in the paper the headlines screamed "drug bust" and it listed everyone's name that had been stopped for a traffic violation. Needless to say, I had alot of explaining to do to my parents. fyi Jennifer O'Neal was staying at Dr Leary's estate. When Watergate came about I had to laugh when I saw G. Gordon Liddy

Good story. Being a life-long photo nut, I have 2 "famous people" photos, one of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau outside the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, and one of (believe it or not!) former US President Lyndon B, Johnson visiting Expo 67 in Montreal!

How about then Governor Ronald Reagan when he visited the Virgin Islands back around 1968 or so, Leslie Caron, whose parents lived in St. Thomas, Ari & Jackie when their yacht was in St. Thomas, Mohammed Ali back when he was still known as Cassius Clay; living in the Virgin Islands had it's perks after all!!!

When I was about 10, I went to the State Fair rodeo and shook hands with Lorene Green(ben)and Dan Blocker(hoss) of the Bonanza shows..I've been back stage with Willie Nelson, Alabama, and Conway Twitty..ate a bologna sandwich with Emmy Lou Harris before she hit the big time.Refused to shake hands with then Gov Bill Clinton and I live about a mile down the same road as his Stepdad.If you watch NFL then you proably have seen head ref Walt Coleman(the one with the southern accent)..I grew up with him and his brothers and his dad was my dad's boss..we still keep in touch.
I forgot..I lived in the same town where Harry Thomason grew up and though I never met him I did shop at his Mom and Dad's grocery store.

When my wife lived in the Bay Area she became friends with her next door neighbor. He was a boy a couple of years younger than her, (16) who had broken his back in a motorcycle accident and was a paraplegic. She used to talk to him and give him a ride when he needed to get someplace. His older brother greatly appreciated it. He helped her get baby sitting jobs for her with his friends and also took her to a few parties.

It turned out that the brother was a right hand man of Sonny Barger of the Hell's Angels. Barger was a very "infamous" guy. He founded the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang.

Betty was new to the United States and really had no idea who these people were other than people who rode motorcycles, were a bit wild and liked to have parties. She met Sonny on a couple of occasions. No one ever tried anything funny with her nor did they try to get her to take drugs or anything else. She later learned that her friend had told everyone if they did they were dead. :-)

She never hung around them once she got her first "real" job but about a year later she got busted for "soliciting" and was thrown in jail. Her father wouldn't come and bail her out so she called her Hell's Angels friend who was able to bail her out and also pleaded her case to the judge. She ended up paying a $50 fine and a suspended sentence. BTW: It was "Soliciting magazines without a license."

And you all think Betty is so innocent. <VBG>

Take care,
Mike(Who had a motorcycle when he met Betty) hmmmm

__________________Cruisemates Community Leader/Moderator

"There is a great difference between being well traveled and just having been to many places." ~Me

I was in my local grocey store, in a hurry as usual. A was making a bee line down the back when someone pulled out of an aisle and our carts collided. I was going to comment to the person that maybe they should be more cautious, but held my tongue when I looked up to see it was Donald Sutherland. He has a camp on a nearby lake.
I haven't seen him for a couple of years, but he's been around long enough that everyone has seen him often enough. Always in the grocery store tho'.

We have only one good resturant in town and his son Kiefer and Julia Roberts were seen there many times - I missed out.

At the High School Variety Show in 2002 the woman that plays the sister on Yes, Dear was in the audience. Her boyfriend of the time was from our area. She left at Intermission and my daughter was disappointed that she didn't get to her her sing. They always cast the best acts in the second half so they had to suffer through some pretty awful stuff, if they had been patient they would have seen some better talent.

I forgot something! A few years ago, I had a short-lived career as a children's music educator/entertainer. When my kids were little we went to see every childrens' musical act that came to Montreal, and on several occasions, I got to meet the cream of the crop of Canadian Childrens' entertainers: Sharon, Lois & Bram, Fred Penner, Mr. Dressup, Charlotte Diamond, Ken Whitely, and to throw in an adult, Rita McNeil. I don't know how many of these names you Americans recognize, but in Canada, they're a big deal!

This reminds me of that movie "Three Amigos" - where they went to meet someone infamous because they thought it meant extremely famous.

I personally haven't met any infamous people but some of my connections have.

My great-grandfather saw Bonnie and Clyde while driving through Texas. Some family friends of my grandparents sold them gas in Ft. Worth.

My father-in-law saw Aileen Wuornos hitchhiking on the Interstate near Daytona Beach. He is pretty sure it was her, how many single blonde women were hitchhiking in central Florida at the time of the murders. Thank God he didn't pull over for her!

I feel that I have had a bit of an advantage to a lot of people as I have worked in the film industry in Vancouver, Canada for about 15 years. Infamous, or famous, it's all the same to me. Some of my faves are: Katharine Hepburn - I worked with her on two movies, The Man Upstairs - with Ryan O'Neal, and This Can't Be Love, with Anthony Quinn. Ms. Hepburn gratiously signed a copy of her auto-biography "Me" for me. I have also met three Christophers - Reeve, Lloyd & Plummer. I enjoyed a very pleasant evening with Gene Hackman and Robert Conrad (Pappy Boyington of Black Sheep Squadron). Had delightful conversations with Malcolm McDowell and Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian). Laughed my head off with my friend John Ritter whom I dearly miss. I must admit, though I did feel a bit nervous around the Fonz - Henry Winkler. Some of the other men I have met are: Bobby Curtola, Wesley Snipes, Mark Hamill, William Peterson (CSI), Rob Lowe, Ben Affleck, Robert Urich, Tim Robbins, Adam Sandler, etc. Some of the ladies I have met are: Linda Carter, Linda Evans, Gail O'Grady, Reese Whitherspoon, Alisa Milano, Drew Barrymore, Vanessa Williams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, Sean Young, I could go on...

Please don't think I'm bragging, but you did ask. Keep in mind these were during very long shooting days ( 12- 16hrs+) and some very long, wet, rainy, cold nights. All of which were a thrill and a half! I loved every minute of it. But I needed to get a life, so I met a lady on line - I was in Vancouver, Canada, and she was in Toronto, Canada and now we are married and living in Ottawa, about to go on our first cruise together.

Oh ya, the one INFAMOUS person I met was Gianni Russo, apparently some sort of gangster who had steely-blue eyes that looked right through you. Scared the heck out of me just looking at him, which I tried not to do as much as possible. I met him while working on "Stay Tuned" with John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Geoffery Jones, & Eugene Levy.

I've known Michael Moore since he was 17. We've been friends that long too. Some would call him infamous! He was still in high school! And he was the same then as now, always wanting to "shake things up". He's extremely intelligent and has the best sense of humor of anyone I've ever known.

Having grown up in Las Vegas, meeting famous/infamous people was normal.
We were backstage playing with the (then called) Jackson 5, anytime they were in town for a show. We got free tickets and backstage passes. Janet was just a little girl in pigtails and Michael was still black. They were quiet kids but really great. Latoya was so beautiful, and all those brothers were cute! They were part of my life for a while.

We met many stars during our stay there. Hal Linden, from "Barney Miller", just as good looking in person!

I know people that became govenors, 4 Star Generals, etc. I even know and visit yearly a former U.S. Ambassador and his wife.....very dear people. In fact, he was my dad's best man at his wedding!

I met Marti Allen and his wife on two different cruises. He is quite a talker!

It is at a point that meeting someone famous is just like meeting anyone else on the street. I don't get stupid, crazy or cry just because I meet some star. It just seems silly to me how some people over react to it. (picture the girls at an Elvis concert, crying, screaming and fainting..............GAG!) I have always thought those were MAJOR over reactions.

Anyway, I have met too many to list, and so far, they have all been very nice!!

Back in the early '90s, I skipped work midday and went to an antique store/mall in Solana Beach (north San Diego). I was the only one in the store for about a half-hour, so the store clerk was chatting me up.

Another person came in so he went to wait on her and came running back to say it was Janet Jackson. She was there with her decorator, and she was pointing and buying.

At one point, I was looking in a case and Miss J tried to finagle her way to look, too, so I body-blocked the case. (Hey, when it comes to shopping, get outta my way). :-)

Janet bought so much they had it delivered. And, after the Super Bowl, I think she can be listed as infamous.

Infamous people I have met. Not the most important, but someone we were on a cruise with, was Victoria Gotti. Author and TV commentator, more famous for being the daughter of John Gotti, "the teflon Don".
On that subject , in a past life I worked in the food industry. Paul Castelano was the head of one of the major crime families in NY (and the guy John Gotti went to jail for "eliminating). His "front" (legitamate) business was wholesale meat delivery and he was a customer.
Those are my infamous , the following are some of the famous.
I spent a week on vacation in Maine at a resort where Chuck Yeager (the Right Stuff) sat at our table for meals everyday. He was then, and will always be, a real hero to me.
In my current business I get to meet or speak to many current and former professional athletes. Hank Aaron has been here as well as many others. I had an interesting conversation with Jim Taylor (Greenbay Packers running back). When I told him that as a kid he could often make me cry, his response was "Oh, I guess you were a Giant fan".
How true.
Any intelectuals out there? I went to school (Jr. High and Highschool) with Dava Sobel,
the author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter. She was my brother's first girlfriend.

As a commissioned personal protection officer(bodyguard), I meet famous people all the time, primarily in the entertainment industry, but as far as infamous people are concerned, to my knowledge, I've only met one. In 1963, while living in Dallas Texas, I met Lee Harvey and Marina Oswald and although she was very nice, I consider him to be one of a handful of the most infamous people of my lifetime.

Wow..great stories..keep them coming...my original definition of "infamous" was notorious, scandalous,outrageous,disreputable,dishonorable,di sgraceful etc., but everyone is having such a great time, and being very upbeat I'm all in favor of keeping the thread going with either famous or infamous

Just to show I'm an open minded person..I'll share 1 famous encounter and 1 most memorable enounter of a famous public person

My most famous encounter was I got the last first class seat on a flight from New York to Los Angeles and my seat mate was Halle Berry during the period that she was in the movie Jungle Fever (her first movie and just before she became really famous).Needless to say it was the greatest (and fastest) 5 hours I've ever had. the best part was my ex-wife was waiting for me in the LAX boarding area (I came to p/u our son) and Halle gave me a kiss on the cheek, which of course sent my ex wife into orbit and my then 5 year old son asking me was Halle my "new" friend

My most memorable enounter with a famous public person was I had the honor of meeting the late New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan about a year before he died. I had the opportunity to thank him for appointing my son to the United States Air Force Academy in 1994 and share with him my son's success in becoming an F-15 pilot.

So keep them coming famous/infamous doesn't matter...although I am partial to infamous

Well I've never met anyone infamous but my mom has. When she was young she lived in Chicago and sang at a night club. She met Al Capone and his cronies, who frequented that night club. She used to tell me how his associates used to ask her out. She never did though.

As a Police Officer I have met a large number of pretty infamous people. <G> Probably the most known happened when I was in the USN and part of the Intelligence community when I met the late President Nixon. I have met a number of other Presidents such as Reagan, Bush Sr. and other politicions but they were not alledged to have committed a crime like Nixion. The most vile and brutal was a man named "Pee Wee Gaston" who was a convicted murderer in SC. The man was very small but totally cold-blooded and could and did kill people without any remorse. He even killed a fellow death row convict for a person that thought it was taking the State too long to execute him. "Pee Wee" was finally electrocuted and the world is a better place without him in it, bevile that.
Jim

Once met Les McEwan of the Bay City Rollers. It was in the early 70's in Edinburgh. I came out of work with a friend at lunchtime and he was sitting on his car. The car drew my atention first as it was a Ford Mustang (very rare in UK). He and his group were in town for a concert and he had come to pick up his friend from work. The Brits on this board will know who he is.

My hotel has been used several times as a location for movie shoots. It's located on a cul-de-sac in the center of the city, with the "metropolitan" looking city skyline in the immediate background.

The best known of these is probably Superman 3 (if you rent the movie, you could see my "joint".<G>) At any rate, I spent a fair amount of time with Christopher Reeves during the 3 days they were shooting at my place.
Which, of course, made it even more devastating news when he had his riding accident.

And back in my college days I rented an upstairs suite in the home of the "president" of a motorcycle gang. There was always something "interesting" going on downstairs <G>, but they treated me like their square naive young friend.

Mike.. maybe that's why Betty and I get along so well. Our background with bikers.

On my first cruise in 1983 on the Festivale I took the KonTiki tour out of St Thomas. We were at a beach when I noticed a woman sitting with a young man. It was Mamie Van Doren and her son. I know you younger cruisers will not remember her, It was a stretch for me!! I went over and asked for an autograph. She was very gracious and posed for pictures.
One for the younger cruisers on this board. I met this "celebrity" long before he was famous. When I was a child we went to a family cookout. I was very young. The host family were related to my family by marriage. Their teenage son was very into puppets. He did a show for us younger children that day. I remember being delighted at the show. the young man grew up to be the man in the bright yellow feathers on Sesame Street!! Big Bird on tv Carroll Spinney off screen.

Cruznut2

__________________
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.“
---Mark Twain

Cruznut2...wow Mamie Van Doren...as the young kids say today,, she was the Anna Nicole Smith (with much more talent) of her time... you could auction off her autograph on e-bay and send your grandchildren to college..I bet you will take that picture with you to your grave

If you cruised on the Festivale (as did I), you are in a great position to talk about the major changes in cruising over the last 3 decades using Carnival as a bench mark. I think I had more fun back in the late 70's and 80's cruising because at that time the marketing was pretty straight forward..use the ship as a hotel and visit islands that you might want to come back and spend a week..now the focus is on the ship as the destination, instead of the island..I think the cycle will go full circle in the not so distant future..but that's a topic for another thread

We were on a family vacation to Cocoa Beach, when my teenage son went to the lobby alone. When he returned, he said, hey, Dad, if you go in tha bar and tell them you saw Tommy Lee Jones or Clint Eastwood, they'll give you a free beer. Apparently they were staying at the same hotel with us.

The next morning, DH got up to take DD to the beach. Teenage son was still asleep and I was relaxing so we stayed behind. As DH and DD rounded the corner from the elevator to the beach, they literally ran into Clint Eastwood. He was in his wet swimming trunks, barefooted, with a towel over his shoulder. DH said he was in remarkable shape for a man his age. DH said Hi, sorry; Clint said the same, and they passed on by.

We later found out they were there filming Space Cowboys, so we watch that movie now with fond memories of our Cocoa Beach vacation!

So did someone say Richard Simmons.. not very infamous.. but he did slug someone recently...see the attachment above I also was in the entertainment business.. met dozens.. and dozens..
Partied at the Playboy Mansion... etc...